Coles in cellar but fire burns

Greensboro, North Carolina: Australia's Gavin Coles has endured a barren rookie year on the US PGA Tour, but publicly at least he's keeping a stiff upper lip.

Coles, who has made only six cuts in 26 tournaments, is 229th of 254 players on the money list. Only six players below him have played more than a dozen tournaments. Barring a miracle in the final three weeks of the season, he will lose his exempt status, and will have to survive two stages of qualifying school to get it back. But that's what the Bathurst battler, who turns 35 on Sunday, intends to do.

"This is a great place to play golf and I'd like to play over here again next year, whether it's on the PGA Tour or [secondary] Nationwide Tour," Coles said on Wednesday ahead of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

"This is where the money is and it's been fun. I've had to rethink what I expected to find, because I've found the players to be really friendly."

Straight driving is the strength of Coles's game and although he's been as strong as ever in this department, ranking 11th on the tour in driving accuracy, it hasn't led to the sort of scores he often shot in Australia.

That's partly because most US courses are soft, with little run, which means that Coles, a short hitter, has to play a lot of long second shots into the greens on the par fours.

"The courses are longer, so even though I usually get the ball in play, it doesn't translate into hitting a lot of wedge shots," he said. "I don't think I've played as good as last year. My swing's not quite right and my putting has been terrible all year."

Coles and his family - wife Robyn and two young boys - have been living out of a suitcase for more than nine months, but he insists he's not yet tired of it.

That said, he's looking forward to returning home later this year, hopefully with a US PGA Tour card tucked safely in his wallet.